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Elon Musk Unveils 700 MPH Hyperloop Transit System

Jeremy Fuster |
August 12, 2013 | 9:01 p.m. PDT

Executive Producer

 

A concept of the Hyperloop tube and pod. (Courtesy of Elon Musk)
A concept of the Hyperloop tube and pod. (Courtesy of Elon Musk)
Imagine traveling in a low-air pressure tube at 700 to 800 miles per hour and going from Los Angeles to San Francisco in a matter of minutes. Elon Musk wants to bring that to reality.

 

The co-founder and CEO of Tesla Motors unveiled on Monday a concept for a revolutionary mass transit system called the Hyperloop. The system would carry passengers in aluminum pods powered by turbines and solar energy. The pods will travel in above-ground, low-pressure tubes and will be propelled by a system that combines electromagnets and air skis to make them levitate and travel at speeds reaching Mach I. The low air pressure of the tubes would help prevent a sonic boom.

 

Musk claims the project would cost $6 billion, less than a tenth of the price of the $70 billion high-speed rail system being planned by California state officials. Musk also estimated the cost of the one way ticket to be $20, and that the system would be eco-friendly, thanks to the solar panels that would line the top of the tubes.

 

"The Hyperloop can generate far in excess of the energy needed to operate," he wrote in the 57-page design plan that accompanied his announcement.

 

But the actual possibility of the Hyperloop being built is questionable. According to The New York Times, Musk told reporters in a conference call that he did not want to be the leader of the construction project, citing current work with Tesla and SpaceX, his private space travel company.

 

“I’m somewhat tempted to at least make a demonstration prototype,” he said. “I’ve sort of come around a little bit on my thinking here that maybe I should do the beginning bit and build a subscale version that’s operating.”

 

And of course, skeptics are already challenging Musk's plans. Stanford American history professor Richard White told NYT that he thinks Musk is severely lowballing the Hyperloop's price tag.

 

 

"How’s he going to build this thing for $6 billion? You can’t even build the Bay Bridge for that much money," White said, referring to the Bay Bridge connecting San Francisco and Oakland. The bridge is currently undergoing renovations expected to cost $6.3 billion.

 

Reach Executive Producer Jeremy Fuster here or follow him on Twitter



 

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